Cherished Moments
by Titianum454
Summary: relive special moments with different campers around Camp Half-Blood
1. Chapter 1

We were sitting alone by the woods eating Oreos and milk. I took one and dunked it in milk then popped it into my mouth. Yummm.

I looked over to Chris who was staring at me with a weird look in his eye.

"What are you looking at Rodriguez?"

"Nothing, I just always thought you'd be one of the ones who broke apart the Oreo and ate the cream first, you know? Because being the daughter or Ares you like to rip the guts out of things."

I thought about that for a second. "Well somethings are just meant to stay together."

He got a funny look on his face and then got a strange fire in his eyes when he looked over at me again. I got the feeling he wasn't thinking about the Oreos anymore. He leaned over and kissed me sweetly.

"Just like you and me" He said.


	2. Chapter 2

Travis and I walk cautiously up to the window of the Artemis cabin, knowing that if we were caught we could possibly be turned into rabbits and used for the next day's lessons of hunting and skinning your prey.

When we glanced through the window I was in complete shock at what I saw. Nothing could have prepared me for this. There was a silver light in the middle of the room which the hunters danced around in a tribal manner. Artemis was in the front leading it all. The speakers were pounding but Artemis must have used some magic so that it wouldn't be heard by those who weren't within a foot or two from the house.

They all looked possessed while they danced to… Runs the World by Beyoncé? Well I cannot say I am surprised about that. No the object that made me nonplussed was Percy in the corner, tied in a cocoon of silver ropes as thick and the circumference of a penny. He was dangling over the silver light while the girls danced. I couldn't tell if the light was coming to him or from him but the process didn't look pleasant.

"Conner…Travis… WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Oh, no Travis. Not the best time for your 'girlfriend' to catch us.

We turned around to look at Katie just when the window above our head opened and Thalia looked out to see us. Time to book it.

Travis and I tore towards the woods with an angry Katie and 5 angrier Hunters on our tail while praying to every go we knew to help us. It didn't work. We were brought down by Hunter's arrow and dragged to our punishment. Let's just say we weren't moving from the hospital wing for a long time nor were we ever going to go within a 40 foot radius of that cabin any more. Once we got out of the infirmary people laughed at us as we went deliberately out of the way to avoid it but believe me if they had the same thing that happened to us happen to them they'd do it too.

I saw Percy the day after the weird ritual in the Artemis cabin and he looked fine, better even. To this day I still cannot figure out what he was doing there whenever I asked him about he got a dreamy look in his eye and said something about 'Chosen people'. Weird but then again Percy always was...


	3. Chapter 3

I was walking down the path in the forest with Grover when we heard a really weird noise coming from further up the path. Naturally we went and followed it to see where the sound was coming from.

Turning a bend in the path the sound became louder so I guessed we were getting closer to what was making that gods awful noise.

"Wait, what if it is a monster?" Grover asked with some fear in his voice. I was not surprised, Grover had never been much of a fighter.

"Don't worry G-man I have Riptide" My voice was full of confidence that wasn't fully there since I wasn't sure what I could possibly be up against. I had never, in all my year of fighting monsters, heard something that sounded as terrible as that.

As we got closer the sound seemed to actually be words. Huh?

Turning the last bend we braced ourselves, I drew Riptide as Grover clutched his reed pipes (which could be pretty useful as exhibited during the last Titan War (wow I am starting to sound like Annabeth)). We came around to see…

Apollo?

Yep, it was Apollo. He was staggering around and around the clearing 'singing' a song so slurred that we couldn't even tell the words anymore. While we watched he started to fall forward and he landed on his face in the dirt. For a moment he kept 'singing' his 'song' until he finally realized he was no longer looking at the walls of the forest but instead trampled earth. He then decided (for whatever reason) to strike up a conversation with the grass while his head was buried in the dirt.

Grover and I slowly began to back away, like one would do when faced with a dangerous animal. Once we got back to the tress we turned around and began walking quickly, leaving the god behind us. We only got about 50 feet before we started laughing, so hard (mind you) that we fell over ourselves and landed on the path rolling with fits of hysteria. Once we finally calmed down I put a serious look on my face and turned to Grover.

"Isn't one of his titles the God of Sanity?" I asked (I blame Annabeth for knowing this piece of information; we had an argument about it one day because I though Mr. D was while Annabeth insisted it was Apollo. Turns out it is a little bit of both but the title formally belongs to Phobis Apollo, our dear friend we left back in the clearing).

"Yes."

"I think someone should take away that title for he has clearly gone over the bend." And with that we feel into fits of laughter again.


	4. Chapter 4

Percy went to sleep that night thankful for the thousandth time that he wouldn't have those terrible prophetic dreams about the war anymore. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was swept way. First he started dreaming of Annabeth but too soon that dream began to be replaced by another.

_Percy saw an old man sitting on a porch that looked suspiciously like the wrap-around on of the big house. The man looked about 70 with grayish-white hair, a tall build that still was rather fit for his advanced age (no potbelly or anything). His face had many wrinkles as well as deep smile lines. He was sitting on a rocking chair basking in the sun and was watching some kids, who Percy assumed were demigods, spar with a pair of sea-green eyes. They all seemed to be in between the ages of 12 and 7._

"_Keep your head up and pay attention you buffoon!" shouted the old man at one of the youngest boys in the group._

_A little while later the group was disturbed again. "Really! How could you have let him get that hit. Back in my day even a newbie could have defended against that sorry attempt of a strike."_

_The group of young kids turned and glared at the man._

"_Will you be quite so we can spar!" This came from the oldest girl._

"_I'm trying to prepare you for the real world. Honestly one would think Chiron did nothing to train you anymore, or maybe it's just he had to lower his standards when it came to you all."_

_The group turned around and tried to go back to fighting._

"_When I was a boy-"_

"_Will you SHUT UP ALREADY!" said the girl again._

"_Respect your elders little lady! As I was saying, back in my day one couldn't even leave camp without being attacked by at least three different monsters, you all have it easy. But, then again, you would be dead if you didn't."_

"_THAT IS IT OLD MAN!" The girl began marching to the porch. Suddenly another girl appeared from the woods._

"_Oh there you are-" she said but then she took in the scene in front of her. She walked up to the angry girl and grabbed her arm. _

"_Just leave him be." She told her in a hushed voice._

"_If he says one more thing…."_

"_Follow me, I'll show you somewhere better to train." _

_The group of kids followed the dark haired girl with electric eyes into a clearing in the forest._

_The dream flashed back to the old man._

"_Did you seen that Annabeth? The character is lacking in young people these days. It must be because none of them have to prepare for an upcoming war like we did."_

"_Percy…."_

Percy woke up with a start.

Oh gods no…


	5. Chapter 5

Annabeth wouldn't talk to Percy no matter how many times he had tried to strike up a conversation.

We were walking along the tunnel of the labyrinth with Rachel leading, Annabeth storming after her and Percy hanging back. Well then there was me, Nico. I was still pretty pissed at Percy but I had begun to listen to my sister's words of advice. Anyway I was in the back finding the whole situation pretty comical. Percy was clueless as always.

Well when turning one of the corners Annabeth stats whistling a tune. Upon hearing Annabeth Rachel turned almost as red as her hair and started humming the same tune back.

They kept going on like this for Gods knows how long, each getting madder and lounder with each passing refrain. They finally had to stop because, of course, in came the monsters.

The tune: Anything you can do I can do better


	6. Chapter 6

Annabeth walked into the girls shower room and prepared for her shower after a long day of sparring, planning and lava-wall climbing. She stepped inside the shower and began to wash herself when all of a sudden the water turned searing hot. Annabeth jumped and turned the nozzle so the water became colder, which it did, ice cold.

After about 10 minutes of fighting with the temperature it settled back to the perfect temperature then turned off. What! When Annabeth leaned upward to check for any blockage the water shot out of the shower head will all of the force of a charging Minotaur.

Screaming Annabeth stepped out of the shower with some shampoo still left in her hair and gathered her belongings to leave the bathroom. As she left she saw Thalia enter and warned her about the faulty second shower. The same thing happened when Thalia took a shower as well with all the tempuarture changes and water flow problems. After about twenty minutes Thalia left in a huff.

This was repeated for every girl who entered the bathroom to take a shower.

The next day Nyssa from the Hephaestus cabin checked the pipes but there was nothing wrong with them. When the girls tried to clean themselves again the problems still occurred but in a more severe fashion. Really Will had patents because of the faulty showers.

On the third day of this blight the Athena girls tried to use the sinks to wash but they woul either not work or shot out streams of water pushing the girls away.

Finally they pleaded to the guys to use their bathroom facilities. After many threats and persuading tactics the girls got their wish but the curse seemed to follow them.

The males at camp halfblood walked around perfectly sanitary (to the degree they wished anyway) while the girls were oily, sweaty and dirty. Some of the Aphrodite kids refused to leave their cabin because of their looks. Soon all the perfume at camp was gone and the girls were growing very short tempered and open to any option. The Ares kids were the least affected by this problem since cleanliness wasn't a top priority but even they had limits to what they could stand. The Athena girls came together with the Hephaestus girl to make new bathing tools but they all failed and even the lake wouldn't get them clean.

After a month of these problems they were suddenly fixed. None of the girls stopped to question how this happened. Instead they were just thankful it did and shower two or three time a day for a week trying to get rid of the dirty feeling that had been covering them for so long. Fights even ensued over who got the shower first. So it was no surprise that not one of them saw the Stolls had Percy a large bag of drachmas the day the water came back on.


	7. Chapter 7

Percy walked down to the Athena cabin with a smile on his face. As he entered the door his first glance was the devastated face of Malcom and the sobbing of all Annabeth's children. Percy assumed that something happened to Athena that caused her kids to be upset so he turned to ask Annabeth.

Percy's breath caught in his throat and came out as a wheeze of air. Annabeth's bed was torn to shred and there was lots of blood on the sheets.

"What happened to her" choked out Percy.

"We don't know. We all woke up at the sound of a skirmish and turned to see someone carrying her away" replied Malcom.

"Umm…" said Sammy, a shy 11 year old girl who slept by the door. Percy and Annabeth had been caught by her more than once while sneaking in and out of the cabin. "I heard the man say something about how the titans would be pleased and you know we didn't get all of them in the war we just assumed that they were gone when we couldn't find them."

"Oh shoot your right" Percy ran to find Grover to start searching for Annabeth but found Juniper crying. Percy found out that Grover was taken too by the same man but this time he left a clue. He had said there was a planned drop off in a cave in the nearby park (and by nearby he meant about thirty mile out).

Percy then sprinted to the Artemis cabin where the Hunters were staying for the week. Upon approaching the cabin three arrows were fired at him with deadly precision. Luckily he had iron skin or else he would be dead and missing what he considered a very important organ.

"Thalia stop shooting at me" Percy yelled at the walls of the cabin. In a moment seventy more arrows came at me and he only just had enough time to pull out Riptide and block them all.

"It is you fault she was taken form us" replied a voice from within.

"Not Thalia too!"

"Yes and now we are missing our lieutenant because of you and your stupid fatal flaw."

Even more determined than ever Percy went to Nico's cabin because he was hiding here from Persephone after crushing her flowers during sword practice. Percy approached the door and found it hanging off its hinges. When he entered the cabin he saw total destruction, or at least more of a mess than usual as Nico wasn't one of the neatest people to begin with. There where shredded covers and ripped pillows scattered on the floor a lot of the furniture was overturned and there was blood on the floor.

In one last desperate attempt he looked for Rachel, he remembered he superior hairbrush wielding skills but all that was there was some overturned furniture, smashed paints and a new painting of Nico, Grover, Thalia, Annabeth and Rachel being tied up; each with looks of terror clearly written on their faces.

Percy couldn't take it anymore and left camp.

_Chiron looked out the window and watched Percy leave with a resolute look on his face. Wow, he must be really distressed if he didn't even tell me he was leaving. I'd better go warn the campers he has crossed out of the camp's boundaries._

Percy stole a car from the nearest car dealer ship and drove to the supposed place where his family and closest friend (not to mention girlfriend) was being held.

As he was driving he tried to IM his mother but only got an empty apartment. Percy started cursing again; they had got his family too.

When Percy pulled on to the curb, skidding, he ran out of the car, blood pumping ready to rip who ever took the people he loved limb from limb. He entered the cave in complete darkness and after traveling a while he started to feel cold. Suddenly there was a blinding light and when his eyes adjusted he almost collapsed from shock.

First he was in the Underworld, second every one captured, not to mention all the gods and goddesses and the people he just left behind in camp, were smiling at him. Even the party ponies and Tyson were there. Third they were all smiling at him.

"Surprise!" everyone screamed.

"Wha..wha..what?" was all Percy could manage.

This was Percy's first surprise party demigod style. It turns out this had been planned form months as a mixture of a birthday, gratitude and relaxation (though Percy could have done without this surprise) party for him and every one helped plan it.

Ohhh they are going to get it for this if that is the last thing I do Percy promised himself before he was swept off into the party madness.


	8. Chapter 8

Annabeth looked off into space for the fourteenth time that day, staring blankly at the blueprint infornt of her. Though Percy can understand why one would find architecture boring this was Annabeth and she never acted like thins.

"Anna… what are you thinking." He inquired.

"Percy, don't call me that. I was given a name for a reason and to shorten it is to change me-"

"Okay, Okay, no need to go berserk just answer the question."

"If you really want to know I was thinking about the sirens island, they were right all along."

Percy felt waves of jealousy; she had seen Luke on that island. She had told him time and tima again she was over him, he was only her brother, well she was lying the whole time. Percy pushed back his chair and stormed over to the door.

"Percy, where are you going?" She asked. Percy turned around to see her looking at him with an expression of complete puzzlement.

"Annabeth if you cannot get over Luke we are through. I have waited patiently and have said nothing these two years because I know he meant a lot but if you think back to that island and still see him as one of your greatest desires we have nothing more here."

Annabeth stared at him with a mixture of horror and shock on her face, slowly though it turned into a look of understanding.

"Percy, have you ever though that what you saw when you grabbed me was what you thought I wanted _not_ what I actually saw."

"What? But when we talked-"

Annabeth cut in. "We never talked you just said you had seen what I had seen and I was silent for a while because I was embarrassed and didn't understand. Percy that day in the sea of monsters yes I saw Luke and my parents and the world rebuilt how I would have done it but those things were all in the background. The focal point of the while image was you and I didn't understand but know I do. You are my world, Percy, you are my rock, you are the greatest desire in my life."

By the time she had finished her speech a myriad of emotions had passed through face starting with shock going to denial then to hope and ending in complete joy. He rushed back over to the only thing that tied him to the mortal world and pulled her up into his arms. "I love you." With that they shared the most passionate kiss of their lives.

**Fluff but hey I couldn't help myself, sorry I haven't been writing a lot but my teachers are mean. Don't like don't read and reviews are appreciated. **


	9. Chapter 9

While looking out over the peaceful grounds of camp half-blood on a late evening one would often spy a striking couple on the warm sands of the beach. Each component was the opposite of the other: black, blond; green, grey; tall, short; impulsive, planner; boy, girl; Poseidon, Athena. But this couple got along famously well, most of the time, though they were so different. On this particular night the boy had wrapped his arms around the girl as she lay on his chest. They were sitting in silence while staring into the beginning of the sun set, the boy playing with one of the girl's many curls.

"Hey Annabeth?" asked Percy.

"Yeah" she replied sleepily, the late sun soaking into her skin.

"I was thinking about last year when Mount Olympus was on lock-down and I just thought of a great way I could have gotten Athena to come to camp."

Annabeth jerked up quickly disturbing Percy's past time. "What! Everyone was thinking of ways to get the gods to help us during the war since we found we needed them and you think of one. You! Let alone that now it is too late to do any good. Gods Seaweed Brain-"

Percy cut her off with a hand firmly clamped over her mouth. "Geesh Wise Girl, we won the war what does it matter."

Annabeth glared at him for a moment before removing the offending hand from her mouth. "So… what is you fabulous, extremely late, plan?"

"Well to get Athena, and maybe Poseidon, down here all we had to do was pretend to get married."

Needless to say the next few hours were fully of attacking owls and a raging sea but the Athena campers (who were informed of this [useless] plan later) used these signs as proof that the plan would have definitely worked. Too bad that Seaweed brain didn't think of it sooner.


	10. Chapter 10

Katie Gardener had a secret passion. You wouldn't have known by looking at her but along with being a skilled and powerful daughter of Demeter she was also a great artist. She got her passion from her father's sister and her husband. Her aunt was an artist while her uncle owned an art school which was how the two met. Since her dad had lots of work she sometimes went to her aunt's house to wait for him. There she learned how to sketch and the right proportions of the human body as well as the skill of shading along with much more, with each of her lessons her love of art grew. This is not to say that she did not love gardening. This was her 'secret passion' because daughters of Demeter weren't supposed to be good at drawling, that was supposed to be left to the children of Athena, that is why no one at camp knew of her other gift.

Katie's uncle, Tom, sometimes let her join in his classes when she was home. He started her off at the beginner class and she had to work her way up just like everyone else. So when she came home for the school year a day early the first place she went was the studio where she knew the advanced class was having a lesson. She opened the strong oak doors walked to room C.

"Hello Katie," shouted a cheery voice from down the hall. Katie turned to see James walking towards her; he was carrying his ever present sketch book and his pencils. James was a long time student who Katie had shared many classes with and sometimes they would stop after class and compare styles.

"Hello James. How are you doing?" Katie asked while continuing her walk towards the room.

"Oh fine, you know today we are working with models?"

No, Katie didn't but it didn't matter. As an artist one must ignore the actual person and view them as an artwork to be transcribed on the waiting piece of paper.

The pair walked into the white room and chose adjoining easels around the dais where the model would stand. As they set up more students walked in and shared their greetings. Katie loved it here. The people ranged from young to old with different styles, tastes and backgrounds but they all shared their passion for art. The studio was her second home back at home and she knew everyone there.

Finally Uncle Tom walked in and started the class. Tom was a tall dark haired man with grey eyes with hints of blue in them; he was well built with tan skin and long fingers and while he commanded respect he radiated kindness and made almost everyone feel at home.

The model walked out in a fuzzy white robe and took his place on the dais. Once in position he dropped his robe and stood in a casual position, holding still so not to mess up the sketch. He was at an angle to Katie where she could mostly see his back and only a portion of his face which included his dark brown wavy hair, his high cheekbones, his chiseled cheeks and the strong line of his jaw.

Katie first drew an vague outline of his body and then started to fill in the details, his strong legs with trim ankles broadening into muscular calves which tapered his knee cap and then bulged out again into strong thighs. She then got the curve of his muscly butt and the strong lines of his back. His shoulders were broad and they ended with strong arms. This man clearly worked out a lot. As she shaded to complete her sketch before the 20 minutes where up and the model moved to a different position he thought that there was something about him she recognized.

The bell tolled and the model was given a chair, he moved so he was now mostly facing her, she got ready to sketch a three-quarter profile when suddenly he said in a strangle voice "Katie!"

She jumped, as did he, because she recognized that voice. The model reached desperately for his robe but she had already seen all he had to offer. She had, as of that moment, had the naked image of Travis Stoll imbedded in her memory forever.

"Wh...What are you doing here?" he asked in an embarrassed voice. Before she could respond Uncle Tom's voice cut through their conversation. "You can have this discussion later, you are disrupting class." It was true, everybody was looking at them. Katie turned away embarrassed because she knew these people and now they were going to speculate things. Curse Travis Stoll he just had to ruin everything. Travis dropped the robe and smirked at her. "You like what you see?"

"Shut up Travis and go back to your job."

She noticed that when he resumed his seat he made sure to angle himself so his 'crown jewels' were out of her sight but everything else was laid out for her to see. She tried to get back into her blank frame of mind where everything was impersonal but all she could think about was how she was sketching a naked Travis Stoll into her book and got embarrassed all over again.

After a few more poses class was over and she was free to leave. She quickly packed up her things trying to get out of the room before-

"Katie, we need to talk'

Damn

She slowly turned to Travis who has slipped on the robe again and had it tied loosely around his waist.

"Travis what the Hades are you doing here?" it came out as a demand rather than a question.

"Well I'm earning some money, what's it to you?" he retorted.

"That is not what I meant, what are you doing here, in Sunnyville?" she was getting fed up with him.

"I am staying with my grandparents who live a few towns over, about an hour drive, and I found an ad in the newspaper looking for help so I applied here and got the job."

"You read?"

He put on a hurt look.

"And why are you getting a job, don't you normally steal what you need?" Katie continued.

"Well yeah, but you do not know my grandmother; she's all into 'morals' and what not so she made me and Conner get jobs while we stay here. Anyway I have to leave now in order to make it home for dinner so I guess I'll see you around." He walked off in the direction of the changing room. Well he got over his embarrassment quickly.

"Who was that?" asked Uncle Tom while Katie stood staring at the space where he had just stood.

"Just a boy I know from camp." Was her reply, Uncle Tom left it like that since he knew he wouldn't get anymore answers from her while she tried to get over the shock of knowing the nude model. He smirked, it would take some time until that happened, he knew that from experience. He left his poor niece standing there staring blankly at nothing while the rest of the class filed out the door giving her questioning looks as they passed.

That was the first time Katie Gardener saw a naked Travis Stoll.


	11. Chapter 11

I remember visiting Camp Half-Blood for the first time to pick up my daughter, Annabeth Chase, after she wrote to us to say that she wanted us to try again as a family after her successful quest. Right after she ran away I went crazy looking for her and was filled with remorse. I had lost my daughter because of my inattention and now my little girl is out there all alone and could possibly be dead for all I knew. The first month passed with little sleep on my part while Helen tried to make me see it was better this way for Bobby and Mathew but Helen did not get that this was my baby girl we were talking about. In the beginning of the second month of Annabeth's absence I received an unexpected visitor, the mother of my child, Athena herself. She looked at me with a disapproving and reproachful glare while telling me to give up searching for our daughter and the _she_ had already taken care of it. Before she left she had turned to me and said "I am disappointed in you, you have not been worthy of the honor of _my_ daughter. At least she knows that one of her parents will always look out for her."

Two months after that encounter I had gotten a letter from a man named Chiron telling me that my daughter had arrived safely to camp. He explained that they were going to train my daughter to fight and learn about monsters. I wrote several letters to that address appealing her to come back home so we could try again. Shockingly enough after about a year of constant entreaties she wrote back in a short manner saying that she would try.

The week before she came I was a jumbled mess of nerves which was demonstrated by how I spent prepping the house and her room not stop, even Helen worked up some enthusiasm about my prodigal daughter but I had a feeling she wasn't happy about the attention this took away from our sons. Her stay was, in my opinion, rather pleasant in the beginning but I could tell my daughter had changed, she was more closed off and there was a sadness in her eyes that I wanted to know about and make go away. I gave her my collage ring while telling her about her mother and how we met while Helen stood to the side stiffly. She put the ring on the leather necklace that was around her neck that must have been from camp but when I asked her about the tree bead she glared at me and walked away.

Trouble soon arose in the form of a hell-hound that appeared at a family picnic. Though Annabeth disposed of it rather easily it brought back the old worries of the effect of her presence on the weak little boys. She and Helen got into an argument about it and at one point she looked at me for back up but all I could think was that maybe it was for the best; she would be protected and trained and our mortal family would be safe from her demigod scent and the monsters it brought. Because of this I said nothing causing her to turn away with anger flaring in her eyes but I thought I could see a little bit of disappointment and hurt lingering behind the flames.

When we had gotten back to the house Annabeth went straight to the back of the house and we heard the sound of running water arise from the area where the hose laid. Annabeth started saying things which I couldn't make out. I walked closer to the back of the house to hear the tail end of her conversation.

"I want to go home, now. Please Chiron don't make me stay with them, I beg of you" said Annabeth.

A man's voice replied as if he were standing right next to her. "If that is what you wish Annabeth then I will send Argus to come and get you. Be packed and ready by tomorrow morning."

"Thanks Chiron."

I rounded the corner of the house to see Annabeth standing by a puddle of water with the hose still dripping. When she turned and caught sight of me she just gave me a glare and stormed back inside. I went up to her room and tried to talk to her but she would not listen to me or open the door.

She was gone before I awoke the next morning.

For the next couple years I had no idea what was going on with my daughter, she didn't reply to any of my letters and the camp directors would not tell me the time of day.

Well here I was waiting to pick her up, all by myself, to try living as a family for the second time after getting a letter from her out of the blue saying that she had just finished a quest with her friends and would like to give us a second chance. I was not going to mess up this time if I could help it. This had torn my family apart, Helen doesn't speak of it and the boys hardly know their sister, their flesh and blood sister.

I stood at the top of the hill looking down into the camp. I finally saw Annabeth leave the big building she had entered after handing me her stuff saying that she had to say goodbye to her friend in the infirmary. She walked out with her arm around a skinny boy who looked like a truck had run over him. His skin was a unhealthy white and he had dark circles around his eyes. He was a little shorter than Annabeth and it seemed like his last strength left him as he made his way to the porch. When I saw them I wondered what had happened to make him that way and I worried about my daughter. Right before she left the deck he turned to the man next to them and gave him a loving hug that one normally bestows on a parent. The man, who I found out was actually a centaur, returned the hug with a smile on his face.

The boy and the centaur stood together on the big, wrap-around porch and watch my daughter walk towards me. The boy looked at her with concern and hope in his eyes while the centaur's look was filled with pride; both held a protective glint in them. The centaur finally turned to look at me and our eyes met as the boy still watched my daughter's retreating form. I looked deep into the eyes of the man who replaced me in my daughter's eyes and wanted to be angry but I knew it was all my fault.


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey-hey Percy. Peeerrrrrrrrrrcccccccccccccy yyyyyyyyyyy. Peeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrc cccccyyyy~. Percypoo. PercyPop. Percy Percy Perseus Per-"

"WHAT NICO!" exclaimed the irate half-blood son of Poseidon.

"I'm booorrreeeddd" whined the dark boy next to him.

"Really, I wouldn't have guessed" Percy said, drily.

"I wanna do something"

"Then go train Nico" was the reply.

"Are you calling me fat! You're calling me fat aren't you?" cried Nico, obviously just a little girl at heart.

"No Nico. I'm not calling you fat. Gods sometimes you are worse than an Aphrodite chick!"

"Well I never… you wait 'till my father hears about this."

"Nico… you really aren't helping your case at all right now."

Nico just stared at Percy for a long moment and then with a loud huff turned and stalked away. Percy turned back to the ocean grateful for the return of peace and quiet. However, the fates decided it wasn't in the cards for the poor demigod that day for all too soon the dramatic demigod dressed in black returned to bug poor Percy some more.

"Percy I'm really bored."

"Yes Nico, I got the memo."

"Fine what do you want to do today?" asked Percy.

"I dunno, what do you wanna do today?" was the reply.

"I dunno what do you wanna do today?" asked Percy.

"I dunno what do you wanna to do today?"

"I dunno what do you wanna to do today?" Percy was starting to get annoyed. Gods the boy said he was bored did he not have a plan on how to not be bored. What a waste of time!

"I dunno what do you wanna do today?" responded Nico.

"FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS NICO, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO TODAY!?"

"Well now that you ask I want to try paintballing…"

"What?" Percy was genuinely confused. How does Nico know about paintballing let alone want to go because of the chance the paint might mess up his hair.

"You know, that activity where you run around shooting people with colorful ball of paint that hurt like Hades..." Nico explained slowly as if he was talking to an idiot. Oh wait he was…

"I know what it is Nico, I want to know how you know about it"

"Well you know the Lotus Casino, well there was someone who said that they couldn't wait to try out the new paintball course but then before I could go and check it out I was taken out and put in the academy." Explained Nico, he looked a little sad, probably thinking about Bianca.

"Well sure Nico why not?"

Percy started to plan how they would go paintballing. He could always ask Blackjack to take them but then again Blackjack and NIco never really liked each other. Besides he wanted to bring the Stolls and Tyson, maybe Will ohh! and Chris. He went through camp collecting his partners in crime and together they went to see Chiron to get the van.

Percy went up and knocked on the door of the great house. Soon the clomping of hoofs were heard inside the building. Chiron opened the door to stare warily down at the group of boys in front of him. Percy decided to speak for the group.

"Chiron we need the van."

The distrusting look in Chiron's eyes grew. "Why?" is all he said.

Percy though fast. "We are looking at a new form of training. You see though we just won the titian war we want to keep in shape and this method of training cannot be found in camp."

Chiron was silent, obviously debating about what was the worst that could happen when an emotional pre-teen, two trouble makers, a boy who attracted the worst monsters and Will and Chris left camp. Chiron gave up his internal debate knowing they would not leave him alone until he said yes. He thought about sending Mr. D with them but instead came up with a better idea.

The boys were getting worried, Chiron had been silent a long time.

"You can go-"the group cheered "as long as the girls go with you" and then groaned. Chiron didn't even have to expand on that, the boys knew which girls Chiron meant.

The boys walked away slowly to collect the girl who kept them in line. Percy went and pulled Annabeth out of a book while Travis went and got Katie from the strawberry fields. Both were reluctant to leave their activity and started yelling but once the two boys explained what they told Chiron they came willingly. During this Chris went to grab Clarisse and Nico went off to look for Thalia who was staying at camp for the week, he got hit by an arrow fired by one of her 'sisters' when he got in range but Thalia ended up coming along as well. Conner and Will didn't have anyone to bring so they waited by the van.

Once everyone returned from collecting their keepers they all piled into the van which Argus was driving. Conner had already tipped him off not to reveal their location to Chiron.

They drove for hours to get to the paintballing place and as soon as the last person's feet hit the pavement of the parking lot Argus speed away with the promise to come back when they iris messaged him.

The girl all had different reaction when they saw the paintball joint. Annabeth was clearly analyzing how this could be considered training while preparing a strategy to kick Percy's butt for lying to her about where they were going. Katie was already scolding Travis. Clarisse had look of bloodlust in her eyes which made Will and Chris worried and Thalia was ready to have some fun.

The group of misfits walked in and got their gun and gear. They decided to play boys vs girls with the ultimatum that the losing team has to sing in their underwear at dinner that night. The also agreed that there was definitely no use of powers allowed during the game.

The group walked on to the field and shortly a full fledge war was going on. Thalia and Will were long range shooters. Percy and Clarisse were offensive. Annabeth was strategic. Travis, Conner and Chris did reconnaissance and sneak attacks that were barely legal. Katie had not particular strength but she was lethal, especially if your last name was Stoll. She was ready to take revenge for every prank pulled on her and she was ready to do it thoroughly. Nico reserved and spent most of his time picking off anyone that past his stop.

Katie was the first one out but she took Conner with her. Next was Chris followed by Nico who peaked around the barrel only to get hit by Thalia. Percy and Travis ganged up on Clarisse and she was next to go but she brought Travis with her. Thalia soon found where Will was hiding and got him in the butt. Percy retaliated with a shot to her thigh which out her out of the game. There as dead silence when all that was left was the golden couple each not willing to lose. Annabeth was a master strategist but Percy was quick to think on his feet in battle. The fight got more intense as the seconds past each fueled by their own determination. After about ten minutes of nonstop fighting and dodging a bullet hit Percy in the back of the head, he slow turned to see the grinning face of a five year old child he had never seen before. The boys tried to argue that the shot didn't count but the girls pointed out that there were no rule made against it. They played for a few more hours before they all called it quits.

The campers got interesting entertainment at dinner when the boys preformed Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus in nothing but their boxers. It was a day that lived on in camp history told as a tale of why one should never make a bet with one's girl friend or mess with children with paintball guns.


End file.
